Didn't I kill him?

“What the hell? Who is that? Is that..?”  Cody thought to himself. His tongue retreated backwards when he wanted to shout his name. His body froze while he stood on the road in a dilemma. His adrenaline started to spike and his face was pale like he saw a ghost. Perhaps it was a ghost. Cody continued to follow Victor until he suddenly vanished after taking a left turn. He could not believe what he saw. Seeing Victor, Cody relived the memories of the sins he committed the week before on a snowy afternoon.

Cody broke into his home and made his way to Victor’s room who was sleeping on his bed. Cody took out a sharp knife from his pocket and proceeded to walk near the bed when the wooden floor creaked to which Victor woke up. Cody jumped onto the bed with the knife pointed towards Victor. He quickly used his pillow to block the knife and pushed Cody. He ran towards the door but Cody caught him on time and bashed his knee to Victor’s stomach several times after which he threw him headfirst to the fridge in the kitchen. Cody turned back and scanned the kitchen to grab a knife. Victor took an unused can of beer near the sink and splashed it on Cody’s eyes when he turned back. Victor used this opportunity to take a champagne bottle out of his fridge, broke it and used the glass piece to pierce Cody’s stomach. He then proceeded to stab his face before which Cody blocked the attack. Cody In retaliation quickly took his silenced gun and shot at Victor’s feet first after which he shot one more bullet to the head. Victor immediately fell to the cold floor, dead in a pool of warm blood. Little did Cody know that an anonymous person was watching from outside through the kitchen window.

Cody placed the body near a construction site in a body bag filled with red chilli and pepper powder and sprayed the entire construction site with wolf’s urine. Abashed and guilt-ridden of the sin he committed, Cody walked into the police station and gave his resignation letter. He could neither surrender himself and spend the rest of his life in jail nor continue to work in the law as his guilt-ridden heart would slowly sink to nothingness. The anonymous person soon contacted Cody and informed him that he would be brought to justice.

The next day Cody again saw Victor while travelling in a bus. He knew something was wrong.  Victor’s murder case became public after few days and Cody personally checked out the crime scene. He went to see a doctor immediately who declared it to be a hallucination due to Cody being affected with initial stages of Schizophrenia. Upset with his life and his decisions he came back to his house and lied in his bed. Fed up with life, Cody soon fell asleep as he started to dream of someone he loved.

Katharine, the love of his life, recently passed away due to an illness. It was a rare condition in epilepsy known as SUDEP or sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. The reason Katharine got epilepsy in the first place was because of Victor. It was years back before Cody and Katharine fell in love with each other. One night Victor sexually abused Katharine in an alleyway. With the help of a stranger, Victor fled away and the stranger admitted Katharine to a nearby hospital. Though later that week Victor was charged for a rape attempt, he quickly came out of prison using his political power and looking out for revenge against Katharine. Cody, with whom Katharine was friends at that time, made arrangements to ensure an abuser like Victor always remained in jail.  Cody created a fake case and arrested Victor for possession of drugs. Further ensuring the safety of Katharine, Cody made arrangements to transfer Victor to a faraway prison in another city. The rape attempt was the first time Katharine got epilepsy and from that moment she often used to experience epilepsy. Though the illness became better with time, one day the illness suddenly came to an extreme and she passed away. Cody knew justice should be brought to Katharine’s death and taking out Victor was the only way. Victor was released from jail after a couple of years and got killed by Cody. After months of diagnosis and treatments in the hospital, Cody got a letter from the anonymous person who witnessed the murder. 

To Officer Cody,

Dear Sir,

I am so sorry to hear the news of your wife. I wanted to approach you in person but I was scared at first thinking what you would do to me. After all, you killed a person whom you think is responsible for your wife’s death. Yes, I am the anonymous person that called you a few years back. I am the only person who knows the truth about the murder. The person whom you murdered, Victor, is none other than my son. After the divorce from my husband, my son was the only soul I loved and his death was unbearable for me. I was at first hurt deeply and wanted to take revenge on you but I soon realised your side of pain. I love my son very much as a mother but I also despise him as a woman for what he did to your wife. You and I both lost something valuable in life and nothing will bring it back. I came to see you yesterday in the station and that is when I knew you had resigned which honestly I was upset about. I have heard things you did to society and how people look up to you. I even heard good things about you from your subordinates. I would love it if you can join the force. It is the wish of a mother and a wish of a fellow citizen. I hope you will honour my wish and don’t worry officer, the secret is safe with me. 

Yours truly,

Anonymous